Dreamer
by Melon1
Summary: A girl, lost in her dreams of fantasy and adventure, suddenly finds herself in the middle of a war between that which is right and that which seems right... and it's not a dream anymore. I make this up as I go ^^; PLEASE REVIEW!!!
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
On the desk, a glorious scene rested, depicting a rugged wilderness by a lake. Standing on the lake was a boat, and by the boat, four figures- two of which were very short and stout, one was tall and graceful, and the last one was between the heights of the others, with a bow in his hand. The pain-staking detail on the picture was evident- not a single leaf was left on a tree without shading.  
  
With a heavy sigh, Katie added the finishing touches to one of the hobbit's hair. She made it blonde, like she had always pictured it. The candle nearby flickered with the force of her sigh. Katie could have easily turned a lamp on, but she liked the mood the candle gave her, even if the smoke filled the room. Normally, she would light incense to keep the smell bearable, but her father had gotten angry at her and taken away her allowance that week.  
  
Katie carefully set her pencil down, admiring her work. "Not bad..." she murmured to herself, having no one else to talk to. "Not finished yet, but not too terribly bad." She gently placed the picture inside of a drawer, so that it wouldn't get ruined by some freak accident. She glanced down at what remained on her desk- the white candle that was half-melted from constant use. A pack of cheap matches she jacked from a hotel. Her art kit, which had been given to her 3 years ago and never replaced... she couldn't color anything purple or black anymore. Her imaginary wand, made of yew wood, 10 inches long. And there on her desk was The Knife.  
  
Katie turned away, struck with guilt. Why was that knife still on her desk...? She had washed it off the night before, still remembering how morbidly fascinated she had been when the water turned bright pink as it had flowed down the steel blade. The bandage she had wrapped around her wrist was a constant reminder of how she had nearly surrendered, and just thinking about it made her woozy. She carefully picked up The Knife and, holding it at an arm's length, tossed it out the window into the bushes below.  
  
Now feeling sick, Katie sat down on her bed, staring glumly at her hands. Part of her screamed, 'Why do you do this to yourself? Just get it over with! Will you follow that knife out the window or something?!' Lucky for her, her rational thought argued, 'I can't give up. What if I manage to....' 'You call yourself rational? There's no chance of you being able to find magic. NEVER.' Katie struggled with herself, wishing for some way out that didn't include death. Unable to find one, she blew out the candle and tried to sleep, the exhausting mental battle raging in her dreams.  
  
The next day, she stayed home, claiming to be too sick to go to school. A half-truth... like so many other things. She personally justified it by considering herself way too mentally sick to go to school. Her mother tried to persuade her to stick through it and put up with it, and ended up shouting and stamping off to work. Katie made a useless gesture at the slammed door, and went upstairs to her room. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she struck a match, cursing at it as the head broke off. She jerked out a new match, struck it, and lit the candle. She jammed the pack of matches into her pocket angrily, swearing revenge. She carefully laid out her picture. Then she froze.  
  
Next to her candle, The Knife rested, gleaming wickedly in the firelight. Katie backed away slowly. Hadn't see thrown it outside, just last night? She felt terrified as she looked at it. A feeling came over her... 'Does it want to kill me? It does.... it wants to take my blood, doesn't it?' 'Why don't you let it? It's as merciful a way to go out as any....'  
  
"NO!" Katie heard herself shouting. She grabbed some clothes and threw them into her backpack. Blowing out the candle, she swept items off of her desk- art kit, candle, wand, and some knickknacks she didn't notice before. She hurled the knife to the floor, and carefully placed the picture in her portfolio of artwork and lovingly into her pack. Biting back tears, she zipped up her backpack, grabbed her money and some jewelry she could sell, and thundered downstairs and out the door, hoping that she could leave her life behind if she ran fast enough.  
  
The constant rocking back and forth had gone from comforting, to annoying, to endless. A small figure peered over the edge of the boat, an elven archer behind him.  
  
Bilbo looked out across the dark-colored lake, seeing no end to it. "I can't even see where we came from- haven't been able to for weeks. Where does this lead, I wonder?" he asked Legolas. The taller elf shrugged.  
  
"I do not know... I suppose we will find out. It is for us to find the path, and to follow it... not to foresee it." Legolas said philosophically as he looked up. A figure taller then both of them walked up, accompanied by another hobbit.  
  
"Now, I try to never look back... but I feel that there is something terribly wrong at home, and we've only just now left." Gandalf said, eyes looking troubled. Frodo wore an odd expression.  
  
"It isn't going to reach the Shire, will it? Oh, turn back! If Sam's hurt...."  
  
"We cannot turn back. At least, not without magical help that we do not know of. The currents of the water are leading us." Legolas said regretfully. "Whatever we can- or can't- do to help, we'll have to depend on it coming from wherever it is we're headed."  
  
Just then, a cry went up. "What is it? What has happened?" Frodo asked excitedly, unable to understand the flurry of elven words.  
  
"Land, someone has spotted land!" Bilbo grinned. "I think we'll discover soon if we can get back or not."  
  
So it was, that one day, a strange ship landed on an abandoned beach in the West Coast. No one noticed it's coming, except for one lonely girl, looking for an escape from her world....  
  
Katie looked at The Knife in incredible disbelief. It glittered on the ground. "This can't be coincidence.... I go nearly 50 damn miles away from home, and it still follows me." She trembled, unsure of what to do. She carefully picked up the knife, and a wash of cold, dark emotion fell over her.  
  
She looked out at the sea, noting a black speck of a boat out at sea. Probably a fishing boat. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore. Katie carefully removed the bandage from her arm. She saw the shallow cut from before, healed over and testifying to her ineptitude.  
  
'This time, I'll make it count....' She thought angrily. Still, something seemed wrong. She glanced up. The black speck was getting larger at an incredible rate. Katie went cold. 'Why are they coming here? There's no dock here! Is it possible they know what I'm going?' 'Then do it fast! Or you can go home....' Her mind made, she pressed the knife to her wrist, eyes shut tight. 


	2. Chapter 1 - Discoveries

Chapter 1  
  
A/N: *just read the review* OO; I guess that means that my fanfic isn't that bad... It's my first try at one, you see. ^-^ Well, anyway, I'll continue this now.....  
  
***  
  
There was a sudden and unexpected lurch on the ship. Shouts went up as everyone stumbled, and poor Bilbo would have fallen overboard, if both Frodo and Legolas hadn't jumped for him at the same time. "What happened?" Frodo cried, tugging Bilbo back onto the deck.  
  
"We must have hit the ocean ground!" Legolas realized, and was answered by many elven cries. The ship was turned to the side quickly, but the damage had been done. The ship's hull had been ripped open, and saltwater began flooding the ship. There were panicked voices, and a few of the more bold and military-trained elves began directing everyone into the small wooden crafts that would serve as lifeboats.  
  
"Oh dear...." Frodo said, slightly pale. He felt the pain in his shoulder flare up, as it always would when fear struck.  
  
"Now, now, dear hobbits- no time to panic. Into the lifeboats, that's right!" Gandalf said encouragingly, following them into one of the boats. The boats were set adrift, each boat powered by some magic to head instinctively for the nearest shore.  
  
***  
  
The elves, hobbits, and Gandalf stood at the shore, watching their ship fall beneath the waves. They had enough food to last until they could settle into this new world- but what was it like? Their last chance at going home, it seemed, had just turned into an underwater artifact.  
  
"I think that the first thing to do is to scout around." Gandalf suggested. "Look for someone to ask questions to, find out what resources we have, those kinds of things." Everyone agreed with that idea. 10 elves (Legolas included) were sent to scout around.  
  
It didn't look promising- barren sand all along the coast, small scrubs and no food around, and something that was hard, gray, and might be a road. One of the elves mentioned seeing a cat, but it was feral and ran the moment the elf had approached it. Frodo sighed at the poor report. What would they do...?  
  
"Gandalf! Come here!" Legolas said suddenly, over from some bushes. Gandalf quickly caught up with him, and both looked in the same place.  
  
Lying unconscious there on the ground was a human girl- she couldn't be older then 16. The girl wore a strange manner of clothing- a white loose shirt with short sleeves, a soft black jacket with a hood, and a rough blue material fashioned her pants. She had brownish hair, and the sand below her was drenched in red blood. To her side, there was a black leather backpack, and a red-stained knife. The blood hadn't stopped flowing, but the girl still had a faint pulse.  
  
Gandalf instantly pulled out some bandage, and looked at her wrist. "...She did this to herself...." he muttered, half in shock, half in anger. He quickly bandaged the wound, and scooped the girl up carefully. Legolas got her backpack and disdainfully picked up the bloodied knife, which gleamed in the moonlight. He cocked an ear, feeling something go through him... then it was gone. Legolas puzzled over the feeling for a moment, then hurried to catch up with Gandalf.  
  
Frodo looked over at Gandalf, confused. "Who is that?" He asked quietly, before spotting the already-drenched bandage on the girl's wrist. "What happened? How did it happen? When-" He felt a hobbit-sized hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I think that we need to stand back and let Gandalf do what he can." Bilbo murmured. Frodo hated the thought, but it was right. He stood back, trying to remain unperturbed.  
  
Gandalf looked thoughtfully at the wound. She would recover on her own- weak, perhaps, but alive- now that the wound was bandaged. And they really did need someone to teach them the ropes of this world, or even to get them back home. He sighed mentally. They had come here expecting never to see Middle Earth again... what a remarkable twist of fate, that they now must turn back as soon as they abandoned their homes.  
  
But now, to the task at hand. Gandalf replaced the drenched bandages, adding an herb to the new bandages that would slow the bleeding. "...I think that she'll be conscious again soon, perhaps by tomorrow." He announced. "In the meantime, I think that we should sleep ourselves. In shifts- we don't know what dangers this new world could have." Since Gandalf said this (automatically making it a wise decision), the elves agreed. A watch was set, and Gandalf fell asleep, wondering what would happen in the morning.  
  
He didn't have to wait long.  
  
"GAAAAAAH! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"  
  
"Please, m'am, calm down...!"  
  
"You... are you an elf? What sort of sick joke is this?!"  
  
"Joke? I am one of the elven kind, yes.... my name is Legolas."  
  
"LIAR! CHEAT! DECIEVER!"  
  
"What are you- hey! Give me that back!"  
  
Gandalf quickly threw off the covers. It appeared his patient was awake... and a little less weak then he had thought she would be. She had Legolas's bow, and was backed cautiously into the ocean, water swirling around her ankles. Legolas watched her cautiously from the shore, not daring to follow in case she dropped his precious bow into the water. Frodo and Bilbo also woke at the noise - along with the rest of the elves - and Gandalf let loose a rich chuckle at the scene. The girl froze, blinking as she saw all the elves, the two hobbits, and now the tall, graceful figure by the shore. She blushed, realizing how silly she must look, standing in the ocean alone.  
  
"You know, I'm thinking that it's just as uncomfortable for you to be standing out there in the water as it is for us to be watching you from the shore, so why don't you come over here and we can talk?" Gandalf called out cheerfully. The girl turned bright red, and waded back onto shore, muttering an apology to Legolas as she passed him back his bow.  
  
"Let me guess- You're Gandalf, right?" She said sarcastically as Gandalf opened his mouth to introduce himself. His mouth shut, surprised. "And the two hobbits would be Bilbo and Frodo, right? You know, if you're going to play a prank on me, you could be a little more original then taking the set-up out of a book." The entire camp was quiet.  
  
"Well, it seems you know us- what is your name?" Frodo asked uneasily. The girl looked at him, eyes narrowing a bit. Blonde hair. Like she had pictured it. Everyone else had said that he had red hair. 'Blonde hair....'  
  
"My name is Katie." She heard herself say, almost unwillingly. "Why are you doing this to me?"  
  
"Doing what?" Frodo asked, surprised. "We came to your land, maybe, but we've done nothing else except keep you alive thus far."  
  
"Don't act like I'm so dumb!" She shouted, then awkwardly lowered her voice. "Everyone's read the 'Lord of the Rings' series. I even saw the movie 14 times in the theater. I don't need you rubbing it into my face with this silly prank!" Katie growled at the hobbit. 'But... blonde hair....'  
  
"It seems that, somehow, this world knows of what happened on ours." A younger elf said thoughtfully. Everyone nodded- that must be it!  
  
"Happened, right. It was a fictional story, it's impossible, magic doesn't exist!" Katie denied. The elves all looked at each other, then at Gandalf. Gandalf looked perplexed.  
  
"Of course magic exists...." Seeing the disbelieving look on Katie's face, he decided to demonstrate. He took out a firecracker, one he saved for special performances. Planting it firmly into the ground, he prodded it with his staff.  
  
The firecracker fizzled, then exploded into a bouquet of fiery flowers. A flaming blue butterfly flew from one, and landed delicately on Katie's shoulder before puffing into a raging green phoenix and flying away.  
  
Katie stared, feeling weak at this minor display of that which she had sought so long. "That... that...."  
  
"Come, Katie... let's talk about it." Gandalf suggested. Katie nodded numbly and followed him, still staring after the phoenix as it gave a final shriek and burst into ashes. 


	3. Chapter 2 - Reliving

Chapter 2  
  
A/N: Okay, right after this, I'll comfort Draco by going through and getting rid of all the typos. Also, I'm making her feel better by making Katie's name a bit more exotic... without changing the name itself. ^-^ My current goal- a chapter a day, maybe one every 2 days on school days.  
  
***  
  
Katie looked around anxiously, waiting for the cup of tea in her hands to cool down enough to drink. Everywhere she looked, there were sprite-like people, with pointed ears and beautiful faces, singing songs in a language she had never heard before. Blowing carefully on the mug, watching the steam dissolve into the morning air, she wondered if this was real, or all some too-wonderful dream.  
  
"Now, Katie- you did say your name was Katie, correct?" Gandalf asked, and continued at her pointed nod. "I'll leave out the obvious questions of 'how did you know who we were', and I'll ask you this simple question- why did you try to kill yourself?" Katie gave a guilty start, and looked down at her tea.  
  
"I... I..." she stammered, reluctant to part with any detail of her miserable existence.  
  
"Come now, if you know anything about me, you probably know I've faced quite enough dangers. I doubt anything you say could faze me in the least." Gandalf chided gently.  
  
"But that's exactly it!" Katie blurted out. "There's nothing keeping me here- my family hates me, my friends don't care, and I want to do something worthwhile that doesn't involve politics! I want to go on grand adventures, and make a name for myself, and get some respect!" She blushed furiously at Gandalf's questioning look.  
  
"Adventure isn't all about fame and such- people die and not all adventurers meet good ends." Gandalf said softly. "I remember Thorin Oakenshield...."  
  
"As do I. He was the 'King of the Mountain' in the prelude to the Lord of the Rings series. He was killed in the Battle of Five Armies." Katie instantly answered with a grin. "His goal was to retrieve treasure from the dragon Smaug, who had killed the dwarven inhabitants years earlier. His companions were, in order of their arrival at Bilbo's house, Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin Bombur, Bifur, and Bofur,- oh, and you and Bilbo, of course." Gandalf laughed, pleased.  
  
"It seems you know almost as much about our adventures as I do myself!" He chortled, and Katie smiled at him, sipping at her tea. "What else do you know?"  
  
Katie spent the next hour or so repeating the books almost word for word. She told the story so well that Bilbo found himself listening in several times, nodding in agreement. The elves, who had heard only the hobbits' versions, were keen to hear it retold by yet another person.  
  
"...and then the ship sailed away. From there, the series ended, and we've only been able to guess what has happened." Katie concluded. Many appreciative murmurs rose, and Katie noticed her audience.  
  
"Well, it seems you know quite enough about us- what about yourself?" An elf called out, and the others all agreed. Katie looked startled.  
  
"M-myself?" She stuttered. "Well... it starts like this...."  
  
Sakura Katherine Blyse was born November 2nd, 1985, in a normal hospital, to a normal couple, in the normal way. She was (for that matter, she still is) very normal-looking- two eyes, two ears, one nose, and one constantly wailing mouth. As a matter of fact, she was completely normal for her first few years of life, where she played a little, learned a little, loved a little, and was even loved for a little.  
  
Then school began.  
  
"SAKURA? What sort of name is that?" A stuck-up blonde boy named Richard would ask. "It sounds stupid!"  
  
"Stupid Sakura!" A girl shrieked, and the class laughed as little Sakura tried hiding behind her mother's knees.  
  
"It's all right, Sakura." Her mother told her, wrenching her away. "They'll learn."  
  
But they didn't. Day by day, Sakura was forced to put up with the insults and joking that followed her foreign name. And each day, she would go to her mother and say, "Mom, help me." Her mother would smile at her and say, "I love you, but you just need to understand- they'll learn."  
  
Her father was no better. He was always at work, as the captain of the charter boat, "Mary Anne" (her mother's name). When he was home, he was red-eyed and sometimes drunk. Little Sakura quickly learned to avoid him.  
  
Finally, a ray of hope came. They would be moving to the West Coast, and Sakura would be going to a new school. Not wishing to ruin her chances at this new school, she enrolled as, "Katherine Sakura Blyse", and told her parents to call her by her middle name only, or else.  
  
It worked, more or less. People at her new school talked to her, but she hadn't the slightest clue on how to treat people. She bungled it, and anyone who became too close to her soon turned away, disappointed of her social skills. 'Katie' then turned away from them, pushing away those who would understand her and looked for understanding in herself. She began to slip from reality, and disappeared into her own world.  
  
However, she had never felt the need to kill herself until she found The Knife. The Knife was a relic left to her by a friend who did commit suicide, along with a note, "You never know when you'll need it." Depressed, she had fingered The Knife until dawn, wondering why her friend had left her the instrument of his own death.  
  
From there, things went downhill. Her father soon took ill, and her mother got a job. She was expected to do work, never complain, and get good grades. Pressure after pressure mounted, and she fell into despair.  
  
The camp was silent a few moments. This was a challenge they had never faced- the fun-loving elves had never though of what it would be like to have no hopes and no dreams worth living for. Frodo and Bilbo both fidgeted nervously in the eerie silence. Katie stared at her feet, having finished off her tea.  
  
"Well, it seems that there are all kinds of troubles out there, doesn't it?" Frodo finally broke the ice. "Take our own dilemma- our ship just sank, and we've a nasty feeling about the going-ons at home. Without some sort of new magic, we can't even get home, unless the current changes." Katie's eyes lit up.  
  
"Over here, we've got electricity and such... I can get you a good boat, if you need it. I don't know how you'd manage to get back to Middle Earth, but it can easily overpower the current." Katie grinned. "And I can go with you!"  
  
"Now, that might not be the best idea...." an elderly elf began, then snapped his mouth shut at Katie's glare.  
  
"I doubt you have any choice. I know how to sail it- it sails much differently then your own boats. And I am not getting left behind!" She demanded defiantly. The elf blinked at her.  
  
"Come now, we can decide this later. In the meantime, we've missed breakfast, brunch, and tea-time. I've no care to miss another meal!" Bilbo said, and the elves laughed.  
  
"Well, we dare not keep poor Bilbo Baggins from his precious meals!" Gandalf said jovially. "Come, now, Katie- or should I call you Sakura? We've rations enough to last a few weeks, and I say we should enjoy them." Katie agreed, and Frodo was the first to lead her away, making small talk.  
  
Gandalf watched them go away, and especially looked at Katie. He sensed something about that girl... he didn't know what. It was like a magic he had never seen before. He permitted himself a small smile as he followed the rest of the group to the food stores. This would be a very interesting adventure, it seemed. 


	4. Chapter 3 - Conflicts

Chapter 3  
  
A/N: I'll spare myself the feeling of total failure for missing yesterday and the day before (and the day before, and the day before, and the day before) by blaming my parents for making me do so much damn work. --; Er, someone please remember to nag me about doing this, or I WILL forget. E-mail me! IM me! JUST MAKE ME DO IT! Well, anyway, here's the next chapter!  
  
***  
  
Frodo watched the newcomer curiously, from his viewpoint in a group of elves. She seemed to be quite at home here on the beach, trading laughs with the elves, thoughts with Gandalf, and stories with Bilbo. Frodo didn't quite manage to connect with the girl- but then again, he hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her. Perhaps later, he would be able to get a chance to have a few words with her....  
Frodo was distracted from his thoughts by Legolas. He noticed the elf glaring at the girl, holding his bow tightly. It appears that Katie's first move had alienated the elf against her... elven pride, once aroused, was a terrible thing. Katie, unfortunately, also seemed to notice Legolas's anger, and began making her way towards the wounded elf. 'This won't turn out good....' Frodo thought nervously, keeping his distance.  
"Excuse me, Legolas...." Katie began. The elf turned to look at her fiercely, murder in his eyes. Katie winced, as if she had just been shouted at, but pushed on. "I, uhm, I was wondering...."  
"Yes?" He growled angrily. "What do you want?" He threw the words like insults. Katie bit her lip until she tasted blood, holding back the thousands of responses she wanted to say, ranging from, 'I'm so sorry' to 'Back off, you pointy-eared dickhead!'  
"Forget it." Katie mumbled as she turned away, her fists clenched furiously but her face an unreadable mask.  
'Well, I certainly called that one,' Frodo thought unhappily, and came up behind the elf. "Legolas, did you have to be so harsh to her? It seemed to me she wanted to make amends...."  
"She should have thought about amends far sooner." Legolas snorted, his eyes flashing angrily. He paused, regarding the hobbit before him. "Are you on her side?"  
"Er, no, I hardly know her...." Frodo stammered, shocked by Legolas's sudden suspicious attitude.  
"Good." Legolas turned away, his face dark. Frodo sighed, and went to join Bilbo and the elves again.  
"This is very much like being with those dwarves after giving away that Arkenstone, isn't it?" He muttered. Bilbo smileed at Frodo and nods approvingly.  
"A most accurate comparison."  
  
***  
  
Katie listened to Bilbo as he told her about his adventures against Smaug. She barely took notice of him, seething furiously inside and casting dirty looks in Legolas's direction. She had always thought that the elf was one of the most calm and collected people ever- she had practically worshipped him, drawing pictures of him always standing tall and proud. But now, he appeared to be nothing more then a stuck-up brat.   
Smiling appreciatively at Bilbo as he finished the story, she slipped off to get a little bit of air. Ever since she had gotten here, she had been talked to by everyone. Almost like being popular, she supposed. She sighed heavily and sat down on the soft sand, watching the endless motion of the waves.  
"Tired of the attention, are you?" Katie turned to see Frodo behind her. The hobbit chuckled, and moved to sit beside her.  
"Just... taken aback, I suppose." She answered him politely. "It's not every day you run into wizards, elves and hobbits, y'know." She turned back to face the ocean.  
"It isn't?" Frodo says, eyes twinkling with amusement. Katie pauses, then laughs.  
"For you it may be, but we don't have anything like that here." She giggles. She glances up at the stars. "What's it like, over on your world?" She asks suddenly, struck by a cat's curiousity. Frodo pauses, choosing the right words to describe it.  
"It's... a lot like what I've seen here, I suppose. The Hobbits live in one place, the Elves have their trees, and the Humans have their towns. You have to be careful of Orcs and Goblins- there probably aren't quite so many, though, since we've defeated the Dark Lord." Frodo says thoughtfully. "There are places that are endless deadlands, with no one daring to living on them... others that seem like a peace of heaven, taken by some miracle to our homeland." Katie sighs longingly.  
"What about your world, Katie? I haven't seen much of it yet." Frodo asks, glancing over at the human.  
"We have humans. No other sentient species... although we have lots of animals. Giraffes, elephants, mice, birds.... lion and tigers and bears... oh, and electronics galore... not magic and elves." She casts a sidelong glance at Frodo. "Nothing like you'd have."  
Frodo seemed intrigued. "What sort of monsters are electronics?" He asked. Katie hesitated. 'If I tell him about electronics, he'd want to see them... electronics have already ruined our world, I don't want to ruin his.' She fumbled wildly for an excuse.  
"I need to go now... if we're gonna get that ship. It'll be light soon, and that will be too late to get it." She says carefully, as if trying to make sure she didn't say anything important. Frodo blinked.  
"Why can't you get it while it's light out?" He asks curiously.  
"Because... the person that keeps the keys doesn't like the day, and sleeps all through it." Katie says on sudden inspiration. Frodo looks at Katie strangely, then shakes his head and looks out at the vast ocean.  
"...what a strange world," He mutters, and Katie shrugs.  
"Well, you know, that's life. I'd best get going now!" She stands up and heads off through the bushes, following the road off into the darkness. Frodo paused.  
'...I suppose I should follow her... I just hope that we aren't missed....' Frodo thinks, sighing heavily. He pushed himself to his feet and scurried after her. 


End file.
